Rapture Ready
- Thread starter Eleazar
- Start date
The return of Jesus that initiates the Rapture is not the same thing as the Second Coming of Christ. Those are two different events on the eschatological calendar, although they both involve Jesus physically reaching down to our world to fulfill His promises and complete His mission.
The Second Coming will be the moment Christ returns as the Righteous King to end the rebellion of the Antichrist, defeat the assembled forces of the nations, and break the power of Satan over our world. The Second Coming will herald the end of the Tribulation Period and the beginning of the Millennium.
The Rapture, by contrast, will signal the start of the Tribulation. That event will be more of a rescue mission in which Christ the Savior emancipates His people from the chains of death and extricates His living servants from a world on the brink of chaos.
The bible tells us, the return of the Lord at the Rapture will be announced by three distinct, sensational, and spectacular sounds: “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.” 1 Thessalonians 4:16
The Second Coming will be the moment Christ returns as the Righteous King to end the rebellion of the Antichrist, defeat the assembled forces of the nations, and break the power of Satan over our world. The Second Coming will herald the end of the Tribulation Period and the beginning of the Millennium.
The Rapture, by contrast, will signal the start of the Tribulation. That event will be more of a rescue mission in which Christ the Savior emancipates His people from the chains of death and extricates His living servants from a world on the brink of chaos.
The bible tells us, the return of the Lord at the Rapture will be announced by three distinct, sensational, and spectacular sounds: “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.” 1 Thessalonians 4:16
DavidTree
Active Member
Hello Shannon,
Your two statements above are from religion and are man-made.
Those words never came out of the Mouth of God.
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 does three things to "pre-trib"
a.) it exposes the error of "pre-trib" rapture
b.) it AGREES/Confirms with the Gospel and OT prophets and the Apostles
c.) it condemns the error of "pre-trib" rapture(not the Believer in Christ) before the Throne of God and the Holy Spirit and Christ
If you truly believe God at His word, you will embrace Matt 4:4 along with 1 Thess 4:13-18 and acknowledge that pre-trib rapture is a man-made false teaching causing division in the Body of Christ
1 Thess 4:13-18
But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus.
For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep.
For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God.
And the dead in Christ will rise first.
After that, we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.
Therefore comfort one another with these words.
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Grace ambassador
Active Member
jeremiah1five
Active Member
10 And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; 11 Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.
Acts 1:10–11.
"In like manner." Jesus didn't ascend, stay in the air for three- and one-half years, or seven years, then finally go to the Father. "In like manner" means "the same way." The way He went UP is the same way He's coming DOWN.
There is no rapture. There is no "secret" rapture. I used to believe in a rapture because I was told this. But there came a time when I put away childish things, became a man, and studied these questions under the anointing and do not believe in a rapture anymore because the Scripture doesn't teach it. This teaching came from John Nelson Darby.
Darby was the first to systematically develop and widely promote the idea of a separate, secret rapture of the Church before a period of tribulation, distinct from Christ's second coming to Earth. His teachings gained significant influence, especially in American evangelical and fundamentalist circles, partly due to their incorporation into influential study Bibles like the Scofield Reference Bible.
Scofield was a Dispensationalist. There are problems with this also.
Either way, there just is no rapture. Jesus came only once and at the end. He doesn't come, stays in the air for three- and one-half years, then finally touches down. There is nothing secret about His arrival. Where are the armies of heaven when He comes? With Him in the air for three- and one-half years also?
Joe
Active Member
Perhaps you're missing the point. The Apostle Paul was simply encouraging the Thessalonian believers to not grieve over the one's who have died as one who has no hope. Paul reminds them they have a hope because just as Jesus died and rose again, God through Jesus will bring those who died with Him too.
Paul simply assures them that our Lord will resurrect the dead at His coming and those who are alive will be caught up with Him in the clouds while in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. This was for their understanding and reassurance. Nowhere does Paul express we will be with the Lord forever in the air. He simply said will meet the Lord in the clouds while He is in the air at His coming. He was not using dramatic similitude language that prophets use such as Zechariah or John in Revelation, for that was not the purpose. So please don't expect what you're expecting. Paul was not wrong. And he was not lying.
God Bless
DavidTree
Active Member
Have you and @Grace ambassador carefully examined this in the light of TRUTH???
Such as this direct irrevocable TRUTH from the LORD = Matthew 10:28
And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.
But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
What about this TRUTH from Revelation 2:10
Do not fear any of those things which you are about to suffer. Indeed, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and you will have tribulation ten days.
Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.
What about this Truth from Revelation 7:13-14
Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, “Who are these arrayed in white robes, and where did they come from?”
And I said to him, “Sir, you know.”
So he said to me, “These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
You both need to do some praying and submitting unto the Lord Jesus Christ and His Truth for the fear of man is a snare.
jeremiah1five
Active Member
Saul encourages the Jews and Jewish Christians in all his letters to believers in the various churches in Asia Minor and Italy. A good example is Romans 10:9-10. That's all it is. Just Saul writing to Jewish Christians at Rome and encouraging them that they had believed in their hearts and confessed with their mouths that God raised Jesus from the dead/grave is simple evidence they are saved. It is NOT a formula for salvation.
But I know what Saul was writing in the Thessalonian letters. And I have not said anything contrary to what is written.
The way certain individuals interpret Saul's words about meeting Christ in the air as proof of a rapture is false. There is nothing in Scripture of a "rapture."
The way Jesus ascended is the same way He's coming back. And it's not to meet anyone in the air and to remain in the air.
16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. 1 Thessalonians 4:16–17.
Believers do not meet Christ in the air. They meet Christ when His foot touches down upon Mount Olives. The way He went up is the same way He's coming back.
This is what's going to happen when Christ returns:
11 And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.
Jesus returns with His armies, and He engages in battle alongside Israel against her enemies.
12 His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself.
13 And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.
14 And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.
His armies follow Him down to Mount Olives where He is on the ground and engaged in battle. It's a bloodbath against the Gentiles who are fighting Israel and the battle is so fierce that His clothing becomes stained with the blood of His enemies.
15 And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.
16 And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.
Revelation 19:11–16.
This is an event that begins in the heavens and concludes on the ground. He doesn't meet anyone "in the air."
The way He went up is the same way He's coming down, except this time He's accompanied by His saints and His armies and He is personally involved in directly destroying His enemies the Gentiles.
Joe
Active Member
I agree with you that we are not going to remain in the clouds with Him. He is descending the same way He went up and we shall be resurrected at His coming, as He is descending according to the Apostle Paul.
1Co 15:22-23 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. (23) But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ.
Where in the bible does it state believers meet our Lord when He touches down upon Mount Olives? Are you making an assumption?
You have unknowingly placed yourself in a conundrum. You are taking dramatic prophetic similitude language of Revelation and thinking things will occur graphically as described. Please hear me out.
Who do we believe, the angel who said “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven", or "Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses."?
When the Lord ascending up in the clouds as recorded in Acts 1:6-11 was He on a white horse with eyes of flaming fire, with many crowns on His head, with a name written that no one knows, clothed in a robe dipped in blood?
No, so now who is right, the angel in Acts 1:11 or John in Rev 19:11-13?
They are both right! When the Lord Jesus Christ comes again, He will descend in the same manner as in Acts 1:6-11. He "will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him" Save from what? Our enemy death.
"For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ."
But what about the similitude language in Revelation of the white horse and etc? In 2 Kings 6 the king of Syria surrounded the city and the servant of Elisha became afraid, Elisha told him not to be afraid and "Then Elisha prayed and said, “O LORD, please open his eyes that he may see.” So the LORD opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw, and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha." (2Ki 6:17)
Likewise, in the physical realm, our Lord Jesus Christ will descend in the clouds just as He ascended in Acts, and in the spiritual realm He will be coming with the armies of Heaven, being the King of God's Kingdom to save all of Israel as Paul wrote in Romans 11:25-27.
In the physical realm, those who sleep in our Lord will be resurrected with an immortal body and we who are alive will be changed from this perishable body to imperishable (Ref: 1 Cor 15:57). This will happen as our Lord descends, with us meeting Him in the clouds upon His descent, and we will always be with our Lord from then on.
We will be with Him when He touches earth once again, and shall always be with Him.
God Bless
